1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a protection device for an electrical connector. More particularly, the invention is concerned with an electrical connector which is automatically protected against accidental disconnection, and includes a connector equipped with an automatic device which prevents disconnection of the coupled connector as long as an intensity of electric current or an electric voltage can be detected on one of the leads of the connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous embodiments of electrical connectors are known of the type comprising a base and a plug which can be integrated with one another by a fixation device, such as for example of the bayonet-type or having a screw-nut assembly, to produce cooperation between the contact terminals equipping the plug and the base, so that the insulating bodies each have at least one passage for at least one electrically conductive member such as an electric lead connected to a contact terminal.
On these known connectors, nothing positively prevents an accidental disconnection. But, an electrical connector is neither a breaker, a switch, nor a cut-off, and the contact terminals of the electrical connector are not designed to serve the functions assigned to the electrical contacts of the aforesaid three types of devices.
The operation of disconnection must be carried out both without current and when no current of a detectable intensity is flowing through any one of the leads associated with the connector.
When there is a disconnection of the connector, it is necessary as a matter of fact to protect (a) the user, (b) the data circulating in the connector, and finally, (c) the connector itself.
Two essential dangers are encountered during such operations on present-day connectors:
1. The electric arc effect which is due to the intensity of the current passing through the connector and which can surprise the user and cause such user to make a blunder. This can result in the insulation being destroyed, the contact terminals becoming eroded, and finally there is also the risk of explosion in a deflagrating medium. PA1 2. The electrocution of the operator due to the presence of a voltage between two points of different potential touched by the user, such as for example a contact terminal with a potential thereon and the ground or neutral which is at a potential different from the contact terminal.